Return to the Digital World II: Priorities
by SeaSpectre160
Summary: Frontier: The second new Legendary Warrior has other things on her mind. It just figures that when most of the others are kidnapped, she's the only one who can help Kōji save them. Mentions of TK/OC, hints of future KM/OC and IO/OC. Redo of 'Return to the Digital World 2: Turning Tides'. Part 2/9 of Return to the Digital World.
1. Chapter 1: Two Missions

**Well, I said I'd get this up before the end of May, and here it is! I will be posting at two-week intervals instead of one, simply to give myself time to finish Part III, which is still under revision, and Part IV, which is still in the early drafting stages. Once Part IV is up, I will be back on track with my official posting schedule - which I have been lagging on because of the random, smaller fics that've been popping into my head and distracting me. So I will be putting Knightverse and the others on hold to finish all this. Part V will be inserted somewhere on the established list, possibly between 'Elsie' (Twilight) and 'Chichi no Tsumi', but that depends on how quickly I can finish everything.**

**So, possible posting dates:**

**Part III: July 12, 2014**

**Part IV: Sept 6, 2014**

**Avatar Niella 5: The Pursuit of Peace: Nov 1, 2014**

**Keep in mind that school and work will take priority; these dates only apply under the assumption that I can get these written during the summer.**

**WORD COUNT: 2,110**

* * *

"Going out already?" Uncle Toby looked up from his newspaper as Lexi left her room, slipping her purse strap over her shoulder.

"Yeah, I've been letting this wait for too long. I've already done my homework for the weekend, don't worry. I'm just going to check these next places, see if Londyn's ever played there. I'll be back before supper, promise."

"Okay, good luck."

Lexi made her way out of the apartment, trying to focus on the details of her mission, but constantly going back to what had happened two days ago.

Friday afternoon, she'd received a mysterious text message on her cell phone. It'd instructed her to take a train from Shibuya Station, the local train terminal. There'd only been nine other teens on board. Six of them – Takuya, Tomoki, Izumi, Junpei, and the twins Kōji and Kōichi – all told some crazy tale about monsters and another dimension they'd travelled to, supposedly. Lexi hadn't believed a word of this, until they'd arrived at their destination: the Digital World, the very same alternate dimension from the story. To make things even weirder, they'd encountered a bunch of strange creatures called Digimon that'd insisted she had to help save the universe or something. Oh, and the train could talk, too. Even after she saw Takuya, Kōji, and one of the other kids, Kyōsuke, being transformed into magical warriors, she still didn't want any part of it. It wasn't that she didn't think it wasn't a worthy cause. But she had her own mission to worry about, and little time left.

* * *

_"It seems that Mantimon was not strong enough to handle the Legendary Warriors. Go, my servant, hunt them down, and bring me their spirits."_

A large, monstrous Digimon hissed and slipped into the water, anxious to complete her task.

_"But when you have them, bring them to me alive. Then you may do what you wish."_

* * *

Lexi sighed as she exited the coffee shop. Another dead end. This was starting to become a pattern. Her list of available options was shortening. They hadn't been by there in over a year, and only one waitress could even remember them. She was no closer to finding Londyn than she had been last month. The Sunday afternoon crowd had made it difficult to sit down and talk to any of the staff or regulars.

Her aunt and uncle had been helping her with the bars on her list, but had also come up with nothing. As the Canadian girl huffed in frustration and checked her phone for directions to the next restaurant, she heard someone calling her name.

* * *

"Let me guess, you're a friend of Izumi's?" Orimoto Komaki asked the sixth teen who'd come to the apartment door. This one was a tall boy with sandy brown hair and eyes. At his surprised nod, she opened the door all the way. "Come on in, they're all down the hall. Just follow the voices." The boy nodded and smiled politely, then places his shoes on the mat with all the others and walked by. Grabbing the plate of apple slices she'd prepared for the ever-growing amount of guests, Komaki followed him. She had to admit, she had an ulterior motive for going in there. She didn't like the idea of her teenaged daughter being left alone with six boys.

When she went in, an odd scene was laid out before her. Four of the boys were sitting in a circle on the floor with a map of an unfamiliar area spread out in the middle. Izumi and the boy from down the street, Miura Kyōsuke, watched from the bed, lying side-by-side on their stomachs with their feet in the air. Four stuffed animals – which Komaki could almost swear had been moving – were propped up around them.

"Apple slices, anyone?" she asked. Everyone stood up, each thanking her and taking a small handful. The new arrival was held back by Kyōsuke and the one who'd arrived with his little brother.

"Hey Junpei," one of the younger ones complained, "save some for the others."

"They'll survive, Tomoki," Junpei said, shrugging and popping the fruit into his mouth one piece at a time.

"Oh, there are more people coming?" Komaki asked, hoping they didn't hear the strain in her voice.

"Yeah. Kōji, Kōichi, and Lexi." Great. Two more boys. At least another girl would be joining them. Still, she was going to have a little chat with Izumi when they all went home.

The doorbell rang again, and Komaki hurried to answer it. It had to be Kōji and Kōichi, because two more teenaged guys – identical twins, by the looks of it – were waiting on the front step. She forced a smile as she pointed them down the hall. One odd thing she noticed was that as he was going by, one of them, the one with the bandana and the irritated attitude, made a sudden grabbing motion, as if he was wrestling with his backpack. His brother chuckled nervously and carefully pushed him onward. What were they hiding?

* * *

Earlier

_"You sure this is the right way, Kōichi?"_

_"For the hundredth time, yes!" Kōichi glanced __**again**__ at the directions in his hand. He really had no idea where he was going __**at all**__. But he wasn't going to let Kōji know that. His twin was already irritated enough. He hadn't slept well (hell, he didn't get any sleep at all), and they were lost – not to mention ten minutes late._

_Neemon wasn't helping one bit. He was hidden in Kōji's backpack, and kept asking them: "Are we there yet?" Which would've been okay, if he hadn't been asking them every – single – minute. And while Kōichi was holding his temper, effectively zoning the Digimon out by focusing on where they were going, he knew Kōji was about __**this**__ close to losing it. "Are we there yet?" And… boom._

_"No, we're not! Just stop asking! We'll get there when we get there, got it?" Yep, just like he'd predicted. Luckily Neemon was used to this sort of reaction from Bokomon, so he merely cocked his head curiously. A couple people walking nearby turned and looked at them funny, but kept walking. Kōji huffed and crossed his arms. "Nii-san, __**please**__ tell me you've figured out which way we're supposed to be going."_

_"Um…" Kōichi mumbled, "I don't really know." He braced himself for a second explosion, but Kōji just groaned in frustration. "I told you we made a wrong turn back there."_

_A familiar figure caught Kōichi's eye. "Hey, isn't that Lexi?" The redhead was coming out of a nearby store. "Hey! Lexi!" Hey waved her over._

_"K-Kōichi?" she stammered, "Kōji? What are you guys doing here?"_

_"__Trying to find Izumi's place. Did you get lost, too?"_

_Lexi bit her lip, then took a deep breath. "Look, I'm going to be very clear on this: I don't want __**anything**__ to do with the stuff that happened Friday, got it? I'm not coming to your little meeting, and nothing you two say will change my mind."_

_What?" Kōichi cried. Kōji stared at her. "But you're one of us! This is your destiny!"_

_"__Says who? Who even says it has to be me? I'm not some superhero, and it's not like I can just drop everything and save the world! I have other important things to do, and not much time to do it! I'm sorry, and I hope you guys win! But I can't be part of it!" And with that, she crossed her arms and marched away._

_Kōichi couldn't believe it. After what'd happened the day before, how could she __**not**__ accept her destiny?_

_"Hey!" Kōji called after her, "Do you at least know the way? Nii-san here got us lost!"_

_"Oh, so we're blaming it all on me now, are we?" Kōichi commented. Kōji gave him a look that plainly said: 'Duh!' Lexi pointed in one direction over her shoulder before going inside. It was the direction the boys had just come from. Kāichi turned around and took a look at the sign of a shop on the next corner, then checked the paper in his hand again. "Oh, __**that's**__ the shop she meant!"_

* * *

Kōji felt a bit relieved when they'd _finally_ found Izumi's building. However, he was still pretty agitated, from Neemon's whining and Nii-san getting them lost, but it was mostly Lexi that bugged him. Did she really think she could just walk away from all this? That her personal problems were more important than the fate of an entire world?

Izumi's mom answered the door politely and pointed the twins up to Izumi's room. She nearly spotted Neemon sticking his head out of Kōji's backpack – to say hello, unbelievably – but Kōji shoved him back in quickly enough. "We are _never_ babysitting Neemon _again_," he announced as he entered Izumi's room. Everyone looked up in mild surprise.

"Jeez, Kōji," Takuya commented, "Looks like _someone_ got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning."

"Actually, that's not true. I didn't even _go_ to bed last night. Neemon kept us up all night, saying he was hungry. He even tried to sneak downstairs a couple times!" Kōichi nodded, having only gotten three hours of sleep himself. "It was insanity yesterday trying to hide him from Dad and Satomi. Then on the way here, he kept asking if we were there yet. He started before we even left the house!" Kōji sat down between Tomoki and Juan, who wisely scooted away. "And to top it all off, we got lost, and then we ran into Lexi, who says she's not even coming!" He took a deep breath, having finished his tirade.

"So…" Izumi began carefully, "Did Lexi say _why_ she isn't coming?"

"She says she doesn't want any part in this whole thing," Kōichi explained, "Apparently, she has better things to do."

"Is she serious?" Takuya asked, "Or is she just crazy? She can't just run away from all this!"

"We can talk about that later," Bokomon interrupted, "Right now, we have to discuss our plans for the future."

"Right," Shinya agreed, "We don't need her, anyway."

"I wouldn't take it that far, boy." He sighed. "You remind me of your brother when this began. Trust me, he and Kōji couldn't even speak to each other civilly."

"You got that right," Kōji added, remembering all their countless arguments.

Izumi got up off the bed and walked over to her desk, doing her best not to step on anyone. She fished around in one of the drawers until producing a sheet of stickers. "Now, I know these are a bit kiddie," she apologized, "but they'll have to do." She sat down by Bokomon's map of the Digital World. "Okay, now which one's Flame Terminal?" When Bokomon pointed it out, she stuck three happy-face stickers around the spot, red, white, and brown. "These represent the Human Spirits of Flame, Light, and Earth."

"And we found the Human Spirit of Ice in the Candlemon Gorge," Tomoki added, prodding a nearby area. Izumi placed a green smiley-face there. "The Wind Spirit was at Breezy Village, and the Thunder Spirit was at the Wind Factory." A pink sticker and a yellow one were stuck on their respective points.

"Where's the Forest Terminal again?" Kōji asked, "I remember there were three Best Spirits around the nearby cove."

"But it's so big," Junpei complained, "We don't have time to search the entire cove."

"Maybe we should just get the ones we already know about?" Juan shyly suggested, "And worry about the other Spirits later? Besides, Kyōsuke found his Spirit own his own, so maybe we'll get that lucky again."

"Good idea," Takuya announced, "We'll go for the closest ones to Flame Terminal first, since for all we know, that spot may be the only passage between our world and the Digital World. Now all we need to do is work out a time."

"How about now?"Junpei suggested, "I've got nothing better to do today." A chorus of agreements came up from the others.

"Then it's settled. We're going back to the Digital World!"

* * *

**So this fic diverges a bit from the original, and Part III will do so even more. This is because III is supposed to be Juan-focused, and I let Lexi's character development spill over. So I've moved what I can to this part to keep things balanced. But Kyōsuke's extra development with be sprinkled throughout Parts II-IV to make up for the lack in Part I. I want to get more on his family and his personality.**


	2. Chapter 2: Mission Gone South

**Things are still going really slow with this series. I promised myself two weeks ago when I posted Chapter 1 that I'd focus only on Return to the Digital World, but my head is currently alternating between Kamen Rider Kiva, Kamen Rider Gaim, and Jūden Sentai Kyoryuger. And Kiva is the only one I even have an upcoming fic for! Part III is really slowing me down, and whenever I do get into a Digimon headspace, I'm focusing on ideas for the Next Generation sequel to this series, which at this rate won't be up for another decade!**

**But here's Chapter 2, hope you all enjoy it!**

**WORD COUNT: 1725**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Digimon or any of its characters. Kyōsuke, Lexi, Juan, Haruka, and the evil Digimon are mine, though**.

* * *

Chapter 2: Mission Gone South

Juan didn't know how he should feel about this. He understood why Lexi wanted out. Who could so easily accept that they had to save a whole world? If she had her own goals, who was he to condemn her for pursuing them? And he was a bit tempted to just walk out as well. This was going to be dangerous.

But at the same time, he'd seen what Kyōsuke had done when he'd gotten his new powers. He'd completely thrashed that huge monster. Juan wondered what it would be like to have that kind of power. Even just a small fraction of it. Maybe his parents would stop treating him like a four-year-old. It had been difficult just to convince his Mamà to let him go out today. Thankfully Tomoki had gotten the idea to introduce their families, especially after discovering that they lived on the same block, and the Himis had invited the Cortezes over for dinner last night. He'd met Tomoki's parents and his older brother Yutaka, as well as Yutaka's fiancée Shimizu Haruka. More importantly, Mamà came to approve of Tomoki as a good kid, and after some careful appealing, had allowed Juan to hang out with him without checking in every half-hour.

If he got powers like Kyōsuke, maybe he could finally show his mother that he could take care of himself. And as he thought about it, he made up his mind. Maybe he couldn't fault Lexi for abandoning this to pursue her own goals, but the Digital World was the way he would achieve _his_ goals.

The ride on the Trailmon was fine; everyone just chatted amongst themselves, except for Juan, who just stared out the window, thinking about it all. They were ready when the bumpy part came this time. Juan grabbed the side of the bench to keep himself from falling over. He took a look at his reflection in the window, and saw a lean creature made entirely out of vines, only a pair of deep green eyes peeking out. A second later, he was back to his normal self.

So that was what he would turn into. _'What'll it be like to Spirit Evolve?'_ he wondered, _'Will it be painful? Or is it more like a sugar rush? Granted, Mamà's never let me __**eat**__ sugar in almost my entire life.'_ He sidled over to Tomoki. "Hey, Tomoki?" he asked.

"Yeah?"

"What's Spirit Evolving like?"

Tomoki seemed stumped at the question. "Um, I don't really know how to answer that, dude. I guess it… it kind of makes you feel like you've suddenly become stronger than you used to be, like you can do anything."

Juan's eyes widened in surprise. "It sounds incredible."

"Well, you see, I was kind of the baby of the group last time. I was scared and alone without my mom and dad, but then I got my first Spirit, and soon I started depending more on myself than other people. Of course, I still had to rely on the others a lot. But I didn't mind. They needed me to watch their backs, too."

"You guys are all really good friends, aren't you?"

"Yeah. It's kinda funny, really. If you take a bunch of kids who wouldn't even talk to each other in the school hallway, and put them in charge of saving an entire world, they'll eventually become inseparable no matter what."

"Maybe, but I bet the six of _you_ just clicked when you first met."

"What made you think that?"

"Well, you guys get along so well now, there couldn't have been any problems with you friendship before."

Tomoki actually burst out laughing. Juan could only stare at him. His guess wasn't _that_ ridiculous, was it? "Are you kidding?" Tomoki stuttered as soon as he stopped laughing, "You have no idea how many issues we had. The worst was Kōji and Kōichi's problems with Dusk-" He stopped suddenly, growing serious. Juan noticed that the twins were both listening in, giving Tomoki a warning look. "No, I shouldn't be telling you about that."

"About what? Why not?"

"It was just a really hard time for us, especially those two, and I don't think they really want me blabbing about it. But I'm sure they'll tell you newer guys when they're ready to face it again."

"It was that bad?"

"You have no idea."

Kōji and Kōichi both had dark looks on their faces as they stared out the window, suddenly very quiet.

* * *

"That sure is a long way down," Juan commented, looking over the edge of the gorge, "We're not really _climbing_ down there, are we?"

Takuya was a little concerned over that kid's reluctance to do anything that involved a tiny bit of risk. But they'd fix that in time. After all, they'd already convinced Kyōsuke to be a little more open-minded. "Don't worry," he teased, "If you fall, there's a river you can land in at the bottom."

Juan just got even more nervous. "B-but I can't swim!" he whimpered.

"Quit scaring the guy," Kōji said, clearly annoyed, heading for the trail, "Now are we going or what?"

They reached the bottom of the gorge in no time, and were greeted by a swarm of Candlemon.

"The Legendary Warriors have returned!" the Elder Candlemon announced to his cheering people.

"Much better reception than last time, huh?" Takuya whispered to Izumi, who nodded enthusiastically. This was a _huge_ improvement compared to that surprise attack.

"Nice to see you guys too," Tomoki greeted them, "But we could really use some help."

"There are some new evil Digimon popping up," Izumi explained, "and we need to get all the Spirits back in order to stop them. They've all returned to their old hiding places. So, we thought it'd be great if we could visit some our friends and still get our jobs done at the same time."

"My Ice Spirit hasn't shown up here, hasn't it?"

The Elder grinned. "Why yes, actually. It reappeared just last week, along with another one much like it." The teens exchanged glances. Another Spirit? Whose was it? Juan, Shinya, Lexi, or maybe Kōchi?

"Well then," Takuya announced, "Let's get Tomoki's Spirit back and figure out who gets the other one."

The others shrugged nonchalantly. Izumi, however, turned and headed back up the trail. "Good luck, then," she called over her shoulder, "I'll go on to Soyokaze Village to grab my Spirit and meet you guys back at Flame Village, okay? Seeya!" She winked and started running up to where Angler sat waiting somewhat patiently.

"Hey, wait up!" Kyōsuke shouted, chasing after her and waving goodbye to the others, "I'll come with you!" He caught up with her. "Just in case you run into trouble before you get to your Spirit."

She rolled her eyes but didn't argue. "My hero."

"Now what are we waiting for?" Tomoki insisted, hurrying over to where the Candlemon had pointed. Takuya and everyone else laughed and started to follow him across the river on stepping stones.

It was unnaturally cold in that nearby ice cave, but, just like the Candlemon had said, there were – not one – but **two** Spirits floating side-by-side. Tomoki quickly claimed his own, but there was still the question of whom the other Spirit belonged to. The only thing Takuya could determine was that it was neither of Kōichi's Spirits of Darkness. "So how do we tell?" Junpei asked the room in general.

Takuya cocked his head as he looked at it. "Well, when Kyōsuke became Gnomemon, I noticed he looked like a good version of Grottomon. The colouring on this Spirit kinda looks like Ranamon. So it's Water."

"Kyōsuke said that when he found his Spirit yesterday," Shinya recalled, "his D-Scanner reacted. Maybe that's how we know whose Spirit it is." He and Juan both pulled out their D-Scanners and held them up, but nothing happened.

"So that leaves only one person – Lexi."

* * *

Yellow eyes darted around, taking in the surroundings. She was in some sort of canyon with a deep river. It was rather annoyingly cramped, swimming up the shallow, narrow stream, not like the wide ocean she was used to. The water tasted odd, too. It lacked the salty flavour of seawater. A group of Gomamon came into view, scattering and retreating onto shore as she passed. Each of her seven tongues nearly darted out to grab one, but she resisted the impulse. An even bigger meal awaited her if she stayed on task.

Then she saw them. Ten humans, just waiting to be – no, wait. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven… where were the others? The Warriors of Wind, Earth, and Water were nowhere in sight. Oh, well. The three of them had no chance of thwarting Master's plans alone. As long as the other humans were destroyed, Master would be pleased. To her delight, three of the humans possessed a Spirit each, and a fourth Spirit was nearby, unclaimed. Excellent, plenty of power to offer Master.

Eventually, the remaining humans began to cross the river. Perfect. And there was a bunch of smaller Digimon tagging along with them. They would make quite a tasty side dish.

She rose from beneath the surface, wailing. The Warrior of Wood screamed the loudest as she grabbed him and his friends – all but one; the Warrior of Light had jumped out of reach, just barely. He pulled out his strange device, the ones the Warriors used to summon their full power. Quick as a whip, one of her tongues darted out and grabbed it. It tasted awful as it slid down her throat. The Spirit of Water was next; it had a much better flavour. She turned, dove back under, and swam downstream, making sure to keep the humans' heads above the surface. Master _had_ insisted they were still alive when she brought them to him.

And besides, meat always tastes so much better when it's so fresh that it's still screaming as she eats it.

* * *

**How about that? You may notice that, like with Part I, some parts of the story are completely unchanged. This is because I don't rewrite the whole thing - I don't have the time for that - I take the old story and edit it. So only certain scenes will be completely rewritten or replaced.**

**My promise to have more Kyōsuke development will be fulfilled in the final chapter, and it really will be one scene. Since Part III is almost completely revamped, I think I'll be able to fit a bit more in.**

**Until next time!**

**Spectre**


	3. Chapter 3: Committing to the Mission

**Sorry this is late, life has been happening**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon or its characters**

**WORD COUNT: 2013**

* * *

Chapter 3: Committing to the Mission

Lexi huffed again. She was lost. This was the street the restaurant was supposed to be on, but she couldn't find it anywhere. Despite her months here, she still couldn't properly navigate in this city. She'd had to ask for directions constantly, and a couple people had pointed her in the wrong direction entirely. She turned for another sweep again, but before she got there, someone grabbed her by the arm.

It was Kōji. He was nearly doubled over in obvious exhaustion. "Hey," he panted, "We need… your… help."

Lexi pulled her arm free of his grasp. "Forget it," she hissed, "How many times do I have to tell you? I'm staying out of this craziness! I'm not a part of your cute little save-the-universe team! So just leave me _alone_!" She turned to go back, but he stopped her again.

"I just ran to your apartment, you gave us the address, remember? And up and down the block twice looking for you, so could you just listen to me for a minute? When this first started, a few of us didn't want to save the world, either. We didn't believe in destiny at all, and we all had our own problems to deal with. But we came together and we helped each other out. If you do this, I promise you, we'll help you with whatever you're dealing with in any way we can. But please, we need your help _now_."

For some inexplicable reason, Lexi didn't move. "All right. What do you need my help with?"

"An evil Digimon grabbed the others. Izumi and Kyōsuke are out of reach, and I can't rescue them all by myself."

"And how am _I_ supposed to help? I can't fight. I don't even have a Spirit-thingy."

"We found yours right before that thing attacked us. So are you coming or not?" Lexi hesitated only a little before nodding. "Okay. Lead the way."

* * *

"Where is it?" Lexi looked around, but she couldn't see anything that even remotely resembled a 'Spirit'.

Kouji rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, there's one little thing I kind of left out."

Lexi threw him a glare. "What?"

"The Digimon kind of… ate your Spirit."

"_WHAT_?! How could you leave out something so important?!"

"Please, like you would've come if I'd told you!"

Lexi sighed loudly. "Fine. Then I guess we'd better start walking." She turned and began walking upstream. For some reason, Kōji didn't follow her.

"We're never going to rescue them if you keep going on like that," he called.

"Oh yeah? Why?"

"They went _that_ way." Kōji was pointing in the opposite direction.

"Oh." Lexi blushed.

"Hey, look what I found!" Neemon asked, picking something up off the ground.

Kōji ran over and grabbed it. "It's Tomoki's D-Scanner!" he exclaimed, "He must've dropped it!" He started pushing buttons. "Takuya? Takuya, can you hear me? Junpei? Nii-san? Izumi? Kyōsuke?" Nothing. "They must be out of range." He stuffed the device into his back pocket and started walking. Lexi followed, but nearly tripped over Neemon.

"Maybe these guys should stay behind." She wondered why they were even tagging along. They didn't seem to be that much useful in a fight.

"Nonsense!" Bokomon insisted, "There's a high probability that you will be the next to Spirit Evolve, Lexi. As Keeper of the Book, I simply cannot miss it! And the others will have to come as well. Goodness knows what they'll get up to if I leave them to their own devices."

Two exasperated sighs. "Fine."

* * *

Kōji was growing impatient. This was one of those times where it felt as if he'd be better off working alone. While he was having no trouble climbing over the wet rocks on the shoreline – even with Bokomon and Neemon nearly choking him half the time – Lexi was lagging behind. Throughout the entire trip so far, she'd been constantly complaining, mostly about the fact that she was wearing high heels. Occasionally, she'd beg him to stop for a break, and he'd repeatedly say no. They had to keep going.

"Geez, how can you actually do this stuff _every day_?" she moaned.

"Practice. We practically did more walking than fighting, even with the Trailmon. You'll get used to it." Lexi slipped and had to grab Kōji's arm to keep from falling flat on her face. "Hopefully soon," he muttered, low enough so that she couldn't hear.

They were silent for the next few minutes, just picking their way along the slippery rocks. The Digimon weren't making it any easier. Of course, Patamon wasn't any trouble; he just flew along beside them. But Neemon often squirmed, and Bokomon would scold him every time he did. And Lexi, clearly not used to carrying two Digimon on her back, would shift her shoulders every couple minutes, causing Plotmon and Lopmon to cry out.

"So… how much further?" Lexi finally asked.

"How should I know? I can only tell direction, not distance."

"Well then, how can you tell direction?"

"I'm using Tomoki's D-Scanner to track Takuya's. I guess they _are_ in range, but they probably just can't answer." He couldn't help the cold feeling that settled in his stomach as his imagination came up with more and more reasons why Nii-san and the others might not be able to answer.

"I just hope we get there soon," Neemon added, "I think I'm getting shoulder-sick."

"Well, you'd better not get sick all over me!"

"Neemon, don't even think of aiming at me!" Bokomon threatened.

* * *

Eventually, after about half an hour of frustratingly slippery rocks and the occasional huge wave splashing them, Kōji and Lexi finally stopped at the entrance of the dark cave. All the Digimon slid off, Neemon inevitably landing on top of Bokomon, his face green. "All right," Kōji whispered, "We'll go in, and I'll distract it, while the rest of you go and see if you can help the others. Got it?" Lexi nodded seriously. She wasn't all too eager to take on some sea monster Digimon, with or without a Spirit. Kōji pulled out Tomoki's D-Scanner and handed it to her. "Once they're free, Takuya and Tomoki can Spirit Evolve, and then we'll figure things out from there."

"What about you?"

"It took my D-Scanner, too. I'll have to deal with it the old-fashioned way."

"Are you crazy? You'll be fish food! And I only agreed to come because I thought you'd be able to fight and deal with anything nasty!"

"We'll be fine. Just trust me on this."

"Why are you always asking me to trust you? You think I don't already?"

His eyes widened, and an awkward silence filled the air. Lexi never noticed the exact shade of his eyes: deep blue, just like her little sister's favourite dress, the one Lexi had made for her by hand. Alyson had wanted pink, but Lexi liked that colour. A coughing noise from Bokomon, and a retching sound from Neemon, followed by a cry of disgust from the former, brought the two back to their current situation. The dead-serious expression on Kōji's face returned. "Look, we just have to stick to the plan and pray it all works out, alright?"

The small group slowly crept through the dark, twisting tunnel until it opened up into a large cavern. Lexi gasped at the sight. The cavern was somewhat beautiful; light came from a big crack in the ceiling, reflected off a huge pool of water and illuminated the entire space. But the beauty of the scene was completely tarnished by the various bones scattered about – probably the remains of any poor, unsuspecting Digimon who'd wandered in – and, of course, the huge monster sleeping in the water. It had seven long, snaky heads on seven long, snaky necks. The creature was entirely covered in shiny green scales, even the two huge fins on either side of its body. One mouth hung slightly open, revealing rows of needle-sharp yellow teeth. Bokomon pulled his book from his weird pink body warmer and began flipping through it. "That's Hydramon," he noted, shuddering. Seriously, how did he fit a whole book in there? Lexi felt a light weight on her shoulder and realized it was the little winged Digimon, Patamon. The little guy looked absolutely terrified. He buried his face in her hair, shaking like mad. Lexi couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Poor little guy.

"Look!" Kōji whispered, pointing. Lexi followed his finger to where Takuya, Tomoki, Junpei, Kōichi, Juan, and Shinya were stuck to the wall with some sort of vomit-coloured goop. Shinya was looking rather nervous, and Juan looked close to hyperventilating, while everyone else remained calm.

"Why are your brother and all the old Warriors so relaxed?"

"Because," Bokomon explained, as if it were obvious, "what makes them Legendary Warriors so strong is their belief in not only themselves, but also in each other. They know we're coming to rescue them. They have faith in us."

"Exactly," Kōji added, "We stick together, we look out for each other, and we trust each other. Part of being a Legendary Warrior is being able to trust your teammates with your life, and to be trusted with theirs. You don't abandon the fight just because you're afraid you might not make it, because someone always has your back."

"Has anyone every gotten seriously hurt?" Lexi asked.

A shadow crossed over Kōji's face. "Yeah. In our second fight against this guy Duskmon, I took a bad hit and was out for a long time. That was our last fight with him as a team. The other battles were just one-on-one against me, except for the last one, when Takuya helped me beat him for good."

"Why you?"

Again, Kōji got a weird look on his face. "I-I don't know. He just had it out for me, I guess. Never found out why." Lexi knew he was lying. But now was not the time to get into that.

"I guess it's now or never," she breathed. Right away, Kōji jumped up and quickly crept over to the side opposite their friends, on the other side of the pool. Lexi took a deep breath before hurrying along the cavern's edge. Part of her wanted to just make a mad dash for it, but there was too great a risk of making enough noise to wake the monster up. Junpei noticed her and gave a grin, kicking Kōichi lightly to get his and the others' attention before nodding towards her. She wasn't aware of Neemon following her until she heard the small rabbit-like Digimon tripping, landing with an "Ouch!" Hydramon opened all fourteen eyes – beady yellow ones that sent shivers down Lexi's spine – and glared at her, each head uttering a guttural growl. Kōji yelled and then picked up a small rock and chucked it at one of the heads.

The stone hit the monster's thick skull with a dull _thunk_. One dove at him, but Kōji jumped out of the way. The head crashed into the wall, temporarily stunning it.

Lexi wanted to help him, but she knew that getting Takuya and Tomoki free would be the best way to do it. By the time she got to them, Kōji had the monster's full attention, but was still managing to avoid getting caught.

Takuya and the others hadn't noticed her continuing her approach; they were all focused on Kōji, too. Shinya nearly jumped out of his skin when she stopped next to him and tapped him on the shoulder. She pressed a finger to her lips and started tugging at the substance gluing him to the wall. Try as she might, she couldn't get him loose. The thick gunk was stubborn, and all she succeeded in was getting her hands covered in it.

A shout came from behind her. Lexi turned to see Kōji flying through the air, tossed by the third head from the left. He hit the ground on her side of the pool, then slowly got up and started running again.

But it was too late. Hydramon had spotted Lexi.

* * *

**So next chapter will be the last, and it will end much differently than the original version. See you then!**


	4. Chapter 4: Nymphmon of Water

**And here's the final chapter; you can possibly expect Part III 'Independence' in July, but I'll be going on a camping trip next week, and I don't know if I'll be able to get much work done on it, since I'm still doing the revision, and it's on my laptop. It's just a matter of finding a power source. Part IV is still on paper, though, so I should make some progress on that.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon Frontier**

**WORD COUNT: 2382**

* * *

Chapter 4: Nymphmon of Water

Kōichi struggled against the goop pinning his arms to his sides. He'd hoped it was stretchy, but instead it was just like Tou-san's pitiful attempt at oatmeal this morning: practically solid, yet painfully sticky.

"Lexi, look out!" His brother's shouts echoed throughout the cavern. Kōichi glanced up just in time to see the centremost head coming down right in front of Lexi. Its sticky, slimy tongue shot out and grabbed her, and before anyone could react, it pulled the girl in and swallowed her whole. "LEXI!"

Kōichi could only stare in shock as Hydramon licked her lips – all seven of them – and actually smiled. That monster had just eaten his friend! And now she turned to her next target: Kōji. He wasn't moving at all, just standing there, frozen in apparent shock. The head furthest to the right shot its tongue at him. "Kōji!" Kōichi screamed, "Move!"

A blur passed in front of them, and Hydramon reared back in surprise. Izumi hovered there, in Fairymon form, holding the tongue in both hands. Kyōsuke was nearby, too, perched on a stone pillar he'd apparently created. Also in his warrior form, he stood at the ready. "Didn't anyone tell you it's rude to stick your tongue out at people?" Fairymon asked mockingly, before pulling hard and flying around. That one head was dragged around helplessly, while the other six continuously snapped at her. Eventually, Fairymon let go, and by then, Hydramon's long necks were all tied together in one large, complicated knot.

"Thanks, Izumi," Kōji breathed. Fairymon whipped around and glared at him. "What?"

"How hard is it to call a person when you need their help?" she snapped, "It took us forever to find you guys!"

"I tried calling you, but you were out of range!"

Suddenly, Hydramon began writhing around, gagging. Bright shafts of light came from her mouths. Without warning, she spewed out _a lot_ of smelly green mush. Various cries of disgust came from the group. A tall figure covered head to toe in the slime rose up from the mess, and raised one arm towards the water, which rose obediently and formed into a huge tidal wave.

Kōichi held his breath as the wall of water slammed into them. He felt the goo holding him get softer and release its grip. He ripped his arms free and swam for the surface. Kōji, Takuya, and Junpei had already broken free, and were treading water a few feet away. Tomoki soon popped up beside him, quickly followed by Shinya. Fairymon hovered overhead, and Gnomemon stood on a stone pillar he'd created. "Nii-san!" Kōji called, swimming over to him, "You okay?" His bandanna had almost slipped off his head.

"I'm fine," Kōichi replied. A much smaller wave hit him in the face. He coughed and sputtered to get the salty water out of his mouth.

Their brief reprieve was broken when Hydramon, now untangled and enraged, burst out from beneath the surface, shrieking. She was about to bear down on them when... "TIDAL SURGE!" A huge column of water shot up.

Floating on top was a humanoid elfin Digimon with aquamarine skin, waist-length dark blue hair, and red eyes. She wore a light blue metal shirt and skirt split down the front and trimmed with a dark blue, and tight darker blue shorts. Armoured greaves and shin guards of the same light blue colour covered the back of her hands, her forearms, and her lower legs. She wore a blue helmet with a red jewel in the centre (a similar gem was located on the back of each hand). Thin red strips circled her biceps, and her feet were bare.

She began moving her arms in a continuous circular motion, creating a huge whirlpool with Hydramon more or less trapped in the middle. Then she turned to face them. "Are you guys okay?" she asked. Kōichi had a feeling he knew her, but couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Fairymon flew over to her and stared her right in the face. "Lexi!" she cried, "I _knew_ it!" _That_ was Lexi?

"Of course," Kōji murmured, "Hydramon ate the Spirit, so when Lexi got in there, she used it to Spirit Evolve. Hey Bokomon, you know who she is now?" Kōichi looked around and finally spotted Bokomon and the other Digimon, who'd scrambled to a ledge above the waves' reach.

"She's Nymphmon!" Bokomon shouted back. He had to shout because Hydramon was making quite a racket. "Ranamon's purified form!"

Looking around, Kōichi realized that someone was missing. "Hang on! Juan hasn't come up yet!" Takuya nodded, and the two of them dove under. Despite the salt water burning his eyes, Kōichi fought to keep them open. Like everyone else, Juan's bindings had dissolved in the water – which was odd, considering where they came from – but he clearly did not know how to swim. He was flailing around, eyes screwed shut, and mouth open in a silent scream. Kōichi swam over and grabbed the boy's left arm, while Takuya took his other side. Together, the two of them pulled him up to the surface. They all gasped as they came up; Juan coughed and hacked, shaking like mad.

"Are you okay, buddy?" Takuya asked him. Juan coughed once more and slowly opened his eyes before nodding.

Fairymon, Gnomemon, and Nymphmon had been busy. The girls were combining their 'Tidal Surge' and 'Tornado Gamba' attacks to turn Nymphmon's whirlpool into a huge, towering twister of water, with Hydramon caught inside, while Gnomemon hurled the occasional rock using an attack he called 'Boulder Wave'. Kōji, Tomoki, Junpei, and Shinya had joined Bokomon on their stone ledge. Kōichi and Takuya swam over, still supporting their waterlogged passenger. "Come on, we should Spirit Evolve and help them!" Takuya cried.

"It won't help," Kōji reminded him, "Fire won't do us any good here, and that thing ate my D-Scanner, remember?" All eyes turned to Tomoki.

"Don't look at me," he insisted, "I told you, I dropped _mine_ when we got snatched."

"I know; we found it, but I gave it to Lexi to give to you."

Once everyone was out of the water, their attention shifted back to the fight. Fairymon and Nymphmon lost their grip on Hydramon, and the evil Digimon was now angrier than ever. She shrieked at the girls; the sound sent shivers down Kōichi's spine. Fairymon moved forward to attack, but Nymphmon stopped her. "I can handle this," she declared. Kōichi was shocked. The last time they'd spoken, she hadn't wanted any involvement with the Digital World. Now she was insisting on fighting a Digimon one-on-one? "AQUA BLAST!" A blast of water shot from her hands and towards Hydramon, slamming her into the other side of the cavern. Hydramon snarled, glaring at each one of them, and, finding herself outnumbered, dove under and swam for the cavern exit. Nymphmon waved her arms again, shouting: "TIDAL SURGE!" and the waters slowly receded, until it was all back in the pool, and the ledge was about ten feet above the wet ground.

Fairymon, Gnomemon, and Nymphmon landed easily and returned to their original human forms. "Lexi, that was amazing!" Izumi cried, "The rest of us almost didn't have to do anything! We are _so_ going to win this thing with _you_ on our side!"

Lexi, who'd been staring at her shoes, looked up suddenly. She glanced at Izumi for a second in apparent disbelief. Kōji jumped off the ledge, landing without a scratch thanks to his years of kendo training. Kōichi slowly began to make his way down with the others, while still not diverting his attention from the conversation. "Yeah, that was really something," Kōji agreed, "I'm just glad you've finally made up your mind. Welcome aboard." He smiled and extended his hand to shake hers.

Lexi hesitated, then took it. "Thanks. I really didn't think I'd be able to do this, any of this."

"So you're staying with us?!" Junpei said excitedly, "Yes!"

"Now how about we get out of here?" Takuya suggested, "Shinya's got a curfew."

"So do you!"

"It's not the same as yours is."

"Yes it is! And we still have hours until then! You've got something planned with Yuki, don't you?!"

"You're still going out with her?" Tomoki asked incredulously.

"Yeah, he is. You'd think she'd have better taste, though."

"I heard that, shrimp!" Takuya chased his little brother out of the cave, the others laughing and following behind.

* * *

_"Hydramon, you have failed me,"_ a deep voice declared.

An exhausted and terrified-looking Hydramon bowed low before a large dark figure in the shadows. She screeched in her own language, which only Master could understand. _"Please, Master! They outnumbered me. Please have mercy, and I swear I will not fail you again!"_

A sigh. _"Very well. It seems these Legendary Warriors are stronger than I assumed."_ Several other creatures growled and hissed in fear. Never before had Master been wrong.

"What do you propose we do, Master?" one asked.

"The Spirits. They are the Warriors' source of power. Spilt up and find them first."

"And the Warriors?" a third, more feminine voice questioned.

"Divide and conquer. They are much stronger together than they will ever be on their own. Separate them and destroy them. Now go, find the Spirits, my servants." Most of the creatures flew, slithered, or crawled away. Even Master left. Only Hydramon and the third mysterious Digimon remained.

"What a waste," the unknown one spat, "Mantimon may have lost to the Warriors, but at least she did not flee from the battle. You are worthless to Master's army." And with that, she raised her right arm, and – although it was too dark to see what she was doing – the effects were obvious. Hydramon screeched before being silenced – forever.

* * *

As the Trailmon carried them back home, Lexi turned to the others. "I know I've been a bit of a bitch to you guys," she admitted, "And I'm sorry, really. These past months have just been stressful and all, and I have a deadline coming up." She took a deep breath and continued. "Six years ago last December, my older sister Londyn dropped out of university after her eighteenth birthday and moved to live with my aunt and uncle here in Tokyo. She joined a band and for a while kept regular contact with me, then, she moved out of my aunt and uncle's apartment nearly two years ago and lost contact with them. She isn't the most responsible person; you give her a rule or restriction and she might break it just for fun. But she wouldn't let the people who love her worry so much. We're afraid something might have happened to her, so I convinced my mother to let me participate in the student exchange program for a year, so that I can look for her. But I've been searching since September, and I still have nothing. I have until June, and then I have to go back home. I just need to know that my big sister's alright."

She tried to keep from choking up as the memory of what had driven Londyn away came back to her.

* * *

_Seven-year-old Alexis poked miserably at her plate with her fork. Again, Londyn was arguing with their parents. "I can't believe you went to another one of those rock concerts," their mother snapped over the mashed potatoes_

"_Would you just get over it, Mom?"_

"_Young lady," their father interjected, "you know very well we've forbidden you from those. They're a terrible influence, and we will not allow a daughter of ours to go to them!"_

"_WELL MAYBE I DON'T __**WANT**__ TO BE A DAUGHTER OF YOURS ANYMORE!" Londyn stood up abruptly and marched upstairs. Alexis just watched as Mom and Dad, still fuming, returned to their food. The silence was only broken by Alyson occasionally banging her spoon on the tray of her highchair. She hated this family. She remembered when they were a lot closer – or at least, Londyn had just gone along with whatever Mom and Dad told her to do. Now she yelled at them a lot, snuck out at night, and hid her new punk rock CDs under the bed. She even went and got a tattoo, but only Alexis knew about it._

_After quickly finishing supper, Alexis started getting up out of her chair. "Alexis," her mother chided her sternly, "What do we say?"_

"_May I please be excused?" Alexis whispered timidly before running up to the room she shared with her sister. Londyn had locked the door again, but she opened it when Alexis knocked their secret knock. As usual, she looked like she'd been crying._

"_I'm sorry you had to see that, Lexi," she apologized. Londyn was the one who gave her that nickname. "Mom and Dad just don't get it. I don't want to be their perfect daughter; it's just not me."_

"_But do you gotta fight with them? It's scary when everyone's yelling."_

_Londyn sat down on her bed, creasing the floral bedspread, and motioned for her sister to join her. Alexis did so. "I'm sorry. I promise, once I turn eighteen, all the yelling is gonna stop."_

"_You really promise?"_

"_I __**really**__ promise."_

"_Pinkie swear?"_

"_Pinkie swear."_

* * *

All was quiet in the train, then Izumi hugged her. "We're ready to help in any way we can!" she insisted, "Right, guys?" She glared at the boys, though it wasn't like they were going to say no anyway.

"Of course," Kōji agreed, still trying to wipe Hydramon's stomach slime off his D-Scanner (Lexi had grabbed it when she'd been swallowed), "You're one of us now, and we help each other out."

Lexi sighed, feeling a weight that had been there for over a year rise off her shoulders. "Thank you, guys. Thank you so much."

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

**So here's a bit of a preview for Part III, but you might see some differences in the final product.**

_**He left the house and met up with Tomoki, who was just approaching the end of his driveway. "We'll have to make this quick," he told him, "Mamà wants me to text her every hour, and I don't think I can get a normal cell signal in the Digital World."**_

_**Tomoki frowned. "That might be trouble," he admitted, "What do you plan to do?"**_

_**"What did you guys do last time? How did you keep your parents from worrying?"**_

_**"We didn't do anything. Because of how unstable the Digital World was, time flowed differently. We spent weeks in there, never went back to our world; we couldn't. But when we got back after defeating Lucemon, only ten minutes had passed. We didn't have to deal with this double life thing."**_

_**Juan sighed. "Do you think I should tell them?"**_

_**"I don't know. I'd suggest talking it over with the others first."**_

_**Juan thought about it as they got on the train to Shibuya station. He really wanted to show his mother that he was older and stronger than she thought. Maybe if she saw that, she'd stop treating him like a little kid.**_


End file.
